Journalists 34 years old and younger have until Feb. 1 to apply for the Livingston Awards recognizing excellence in journalism, which are now expanding in an effort to attract more submissions from those practicing digital journalism.

"At a moment when journalism has something of an image problem, the Livingstons should also showcase annual examples of why that could and should change," said Livingston Awards founder and director Charles Eisendrath in a prepared release.

The Knight Foundation, which supports the annual awards, is contributing $450,000 in additional funding to expand the program's digital-media efforts and outreach. The University of Michigan will match the amount, further providing "time for the prestigious awards to build a permanent endowment," the release states.

The awards recognize young journalists working to advance journalism excellence and building models to serve future news consumers. Winners in local, national and international reporting categories receive $10,000 awards. Previous winners include Christiane Amanpour, Ira Glass, Tom Friedman and David Isay.

Eric Newton, senior adviser to the Knight Foundation president, said journalism awards should do more than recognize quality work and journalists with potential.

“Done well, like the Livingstons, they inspire winners and others to go on to better journalism, advance new tools and techniques and help communities understand the power of good journalism,” he said.